Recorded in France in late 2008, this quartet's (Roy Campbell on trumpet and winds, Joe McPhee on tenor sax and pocket trumpet, William Parker on bass, Warren Smith on drums and percussion — and all on yells) tribute is not just a loving homage to Albert Ayler but to iconic African American composers and otherwise important figures, from Grammy and Polar Music Prize winning singer and philanthropist Miriam Makeba (who died of a heart attack just days before this show) to Don Cherry to Ayler's trumpeter brother, Donald, to Barack Obama.
Moving beyond mere interpretation of these revered compositions, the group alternates between muffled anticipation and near bedlam (particularly on the Cherry-penned "DC" and Donald Ayler's "Prophet John") with a mixed survey of jazz standards, funeral marches, guttural primitivism, balladic lyricism and free-form atmospheres.
Beginning the set with "Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe", Campbell replaces Mary Maria Parks' lilt on the 1969 classic with an assertive oration of Ayler's "Music is life, life is beautiful / Music is played, listened to, danced to; sometimes not understood, but felt / Oh let it come in / Be healed…be healed!" etc., setting an innocuous, rousing-yet-reverent mantra the quartet return to throughout the concert. Smith navigates through this mystic carol with drumstick wands, circumspectly adding accents of chimes and an echoing undulation of lower frequency rolls and ringing cymbals while McPhee calmly squelches and intones his own transposed version of the "melody". Warmed up, the group segues into a fifteen-minute take of Makeba's "Muntu", Smith gently tap ta-tapping a meager ostinato alongside Parker's fragmented arpeggiations. Soon sax and trumpet join in a duet, first retaining the subdued humility of the original before McPhee departs in pursuit of Ayler's ghost, spinning and blasting through a gallop of effects and non-tonal whisks. On "Obama Victory Shoutout" (sic), the four renew their focus with chills-inspiring chants of "change has come / have you heard? / and not a shot was fired!", garnering escalated shouts from the band and audience alike.
The treat of these works is, as mentioned, embedded in the cracks of deviations and "searching" moments (i.e. McPhee's groaning and forcing multiphonics over Campbell's bamboo flute and recorder at the climax of "Vibrations"; midway through "Prophet John", Parker grabs a bow and takes a solo flight, laying out a five minute solo to mentally cripple all bassists in the audience).
Regardless of the themes of this album, the accolades — and two-minute applause at the end — belong to these paramount performers and their celebration of terrific execution and singular ownership. ~Dave Madden, squidsear.com
1. Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe (Albert Ayler) [06:31]
2. Muntu (Miriam Makeba) [15:19]
3. Obama Victory Shoutout (R. Campbell, J. McPhee, W. Parker, W. Smith)
3. & Truth is Marching in (Albert Ayler) [13:50]
4. DC (Don Cherry) & Vibrations (Albert Ayler) [16:51]
5. Prophet John (Donald Ayler) [15:05]
6. Universal Indians (Albert Ayler) [06:40]
Joe McPhee: Tenor sax, pocket trumpet, voice
Roy Campbell: Trumpet, pocket trumpet, bamboo flute, recorder, voice
William Parker: Bass, voice
Warren Smith: Voice, percussion, drums
Recorded live in November 2008 at the "Dynamo" in Paris, France during the Banlieues Bleues Festival.
Joe McPhee | Roy Campbell
